On Feb 22, 12:50*pm, micky wrote:
OT *Drones, or unmanned aircraft

*Heard on Kojo Nnambi that unmanned aircraft for commericial (and
private?) use will be legal next year, and got to thinking.....

They're "legal" NOW, as in there are no laws against them.

The FAA is trying to regulate them so they aren't flying willy-nilly
in the airspace with people-carrying airplanes. Some idiot will
inevitably decide it'd be fun to take a joyride through the pattern at
a major municipal airport, thinking nothing bad will happen, and
inadvertently take down an A380 full of fuel and passengers. They
think regulations will stop that.

Is any of this true with unmanned planes. *I have the feeling the
pilot can see straight ahead, and if it has a down-pointed camera,
straight down. * Am I piloting the Hy-un-dry of unmanned planes?

Depends on the purpose of the airplane. Some only have forward-facing
cameras. Some have an array of cameras. Some have a camera on a gimbal
in the airplane that follows the pilot's head movements.

These regulations are going to hurt the guy with a toy plane in his
backyard the most. The FAA loves to write vague, sweeping regulations,
and right now what they want to regulate includes any sort of remotely-
piloted aircraft at any altitude.